Wireless networking technologies offer users the convenience of mobility and ease of connection to a network. As mobile devices (e.g., smartphones, netbooks, etc.) continue to expand in functionality, so does the benefit for users to continually replace the outdated mobile devices with new enhanced mobile devices. Further, early adoption of mobile phones has been in vogue, as ever more sophisticated applications and services are offered by service providers. However, the replacement costs to consumers may rapidly become prohibitive. To curb the costs of frequent upgrades, consumers rely on the secondary market to resell the devices. Unfortunately, the marketplace for pre-owned mobile devices has been largely untrustworthy, as such devices are routinely stolen or misplaced. Further, under either of these scenarios, the mobile devices may be designated as lost or stolen, thereby rendering them as lost assets to the consumer and the service provider.
Therefore, there is a need for an approach to facilitate transfer of ownership of mobile devices.